The impact of demographic variables on Libyan retail consumers’ attitudes towards Islamic methods of finance

الملخص EN

This paper investigates the extent to which Libyan retail consumers’ demographic variables influence their attitudes towards potential use of Islamic methods of finance.

A self-administered survey, covering a random sample of 385 consumers was conducted using phone interviews during the months of December 2007 and January-February 2008 to gather their demographic variables and their opinions towards Islamic methods of finance.

Descriptive statistics is used to indicate the main characteristics of the sample and potential use of Islamic methods of finance.

The results indicate that most of respondents (85.9%) are potential users of Islamic methods of finance.

Discriminate analysis is used to indicate which of these demographic variables has much impact on the attitudes of Libyan retail consumers towards Islamic methods of finance.

This analysis illustrates that professional status, monthly income, age and level of education are the most important variables in discriminating between the two groups of retail consumers (those who are potential users of Islamic methods of finance and those who are not).